Two more killings bring this week's homicide toll in Newark to 7

NEWARK —
A woman was fatally stabbed and a man was shot and killed in unrelated homicides in the city’s Central Ward this afternoon, the sixth and seventh killings of what authorities are calling the city’s deadliest week so far this year, said Anthony Ambrose, chief of detectives for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities first responded to 25 Parkhurst St. about 2:40 p.m., where they found Ebony Martin, 24, and a second female stabbed outside. Both women were transported to University Hospital in the city where Martin was pronounced dead on arrival. The second woman, who was not identified by authorities, was treated and released.

About 10 minutes later, Anthony Smith ,43, was shot multiple times at a residence on the 200 block of Irvine Turner Blvd. He also was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 3:15 p.m., Ambrose said.

Both Martin and Smith appeared to have been targeted, he said.

Ambrose said had been no arrests and he declined to address any possible motives in either killing.

Residents in the neighborhood of the shooting reported hearing several gunshots outside the now defunct Queen of Angels church.

Anthony Ambrose, the chief of detectives for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, in black suit in this file photograph, said that two homicide victims in the city today appear to have been targeted.Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger

"It's just a very unfortunate week," Police Director Samuel DeMaio said. "None of the incidents that took place this week are related to each other."

The prosecutor's homicide task force, which includes members of the city’s police department, are investigative both incidents, Ambrose said.

The wave of violence began Monday night, when a domestic dispute resulted in a double shooting on Dewey Street that took the life of a 20-year-old woman.

Early Tuesday morning, a 19-year-old Newark man was gunned down a half-mile away from the scene of the Dewey Street slaying. A 37-year-old East Orange man was shot and killed on Tuesday afternoon, and a spray of gunfire on Vassar Avenue left two brothers dead on Friday morning.

At around 11 p.m. Friday, a 15-year-old boy was also shot near South 13th Street and 15th Avenue, said Sgt. Ronald Glover, a city police spokesman.

The boy is expected to survive.

There have been 56 homicides in Newark so far this year, compared to 57 at this time in 2012, according to DeMaio, who said of all seven homicides were targeted attacks, and many of them involved people linked to drug or gang activity.

“Unfortunately the lifestyle that they are leading is one of violence," he said.